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roman59 New user Ipswich, United Kingdom 53 Posts |
The B.I.P BOOK
Supplier Alakazam Available Now Price £19.99 Dealer Product Description: Have you ever wanted a book test small and compact enough to fit in your pocket, yet devious enough that can be worked hands off? Well, the time has come with B.I.P. This is one effect you will carry with you at all times! Imagine handing out a small official looking book from the British Institute of Parapsychology. You freely show each page to contain a word, two shapes of different colours (one inside the other) and a random number between 10-999. 1.The book is handed to one spectator who opens it to any page and looks at a number. He now adds the digits together in his mind and turns to the front page of the book where there is a list of countries. He is asked to remember the country that lands on his number and in fact if he knows the capital city or even a monument in that city to think of these as well! 2.Spectator number two is requested to open the book at any page and look at the word. He now turns to the back of the book and remembers an object that is associated with the chosen word. 3.Spectator number three opens the book and remembers the 2 shapes. Remembering both the shapes and the colours. 4.Your final spectator opens the book and remembers a 2 or 3 digit number. Now without touching or taking the book back you can name all four items! This is absolutely incredible and can be performed on 1-4 spectators yet is small enough to fit in your pocket! This custom made book will instantly become part of your working repertoire, ideal for walk-a-round, table hopping or parlour and will even play for stage! Easy to learn, in fact you will be performing this almost as soon as you open the package. No peeks, sleights or memory work required, you can even be standing at the other side of the room when the choices are made and at no time during performance do you every need to touch the book ! There is no impact stronger than reading your spectator's mind and with B.I.P you can do this with ease! Early in July this was demmed at my local magic society to four seasoned magicians all I can say they were all fooled badly, I had to pre-order it that night, the only downside was that I had to wait until yesterday to receive one! After opening the package & going through the instructions within 20 minutes I had the routines/book down to a tee. This item is a real gem, how many book tests can you carry around in your top pocket? (the b.i.p measures 2x3 inches). This is a book test at a fraction of the price of other book tests available at present. The B.I.P book is freely handled by the spectator, all of the pages are different, nothing is repeated on any of the pages, it can be thoroughly examined & inspected by all but the secret will not be found. The performer does not need to handle the B.I.P book to get the desired result, it can be performed with the mentalist across the other side of the room, there are no peeks involved at all just a very very clever method. Due to the size & neatness of the B.I.P book it can be performed in any situation, I perform a lot of table hopping which it is perfect for however if you are a stage/parlour performer it is perfect for that. Also hidden within the pages are 2 more bonus routines not mentioned in the dealer description, a hint to these are given in the instructions but you have to find these for yourself. The B.I.P book looks like something that H.M.S.O would have printed giving it an authentic look. To summarise would I buy it again, yes this baby is going to be used in my act over & over again someone will want to take it home with them, another winner from Alakazam at a great price this a real reputation maker. The method is soooooooo simple leaving the performer to concentrate on his/her presentation to the full, why run when you can walk. Only one complaint though it would have been good to have had a wallet/case to keep it in when not in use, looks like a trip to the local stationary store is in order, but that’s a small price to pay for this little beauty Buy it you will not be dissapointed |
zmagicleez Regular user 123 Posts |
Great review and i'll second that.
I recently got my BIP book and was really pleased. It's so refreshing to read about the effect and when you get it, it actually does what it says! Well done Mr Creasey.
It's a small world... but you wouldn't want to hoover it.
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roman59 New user Ipswich, United Kingdom 53 Posts |
I couldn't have put it better myself, I have been using the book today, fantastic reactions some of which are a bit too adult to post on this board.
The strength of the B.I.P book in my opinion is its simplcity, simple yet so strong. |
NickW New user Derby, UK 66 Posts |
How many pages are there in the book, and how is it bound? I suspect that if it's a staple-bound booklet with 24 pages, for instance, people may guess (rightly or wrongly) that you've memorised the pages and seen where they opened the book.
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gio Loyal user Genova - Italy 247 Posts |
Maybe this is a stupid question, but just to be sure: is English involved in the working? I mean: of course the words are printed in English, but except for that, can I perform the BIP in another language? Also, once you get the original BIP and learn the secret, could I remade it in another language? I like the effect very much but it's of no use for me right now if I have to perform it in English.
Thanks. Gio |
roman59 New user Ipswich, United Kingdom 53 Posts |
The book is about half an inch thick, there is around 50 pages in the book, it is stapled at the top.
You can perform this with your back to them or even blindfolded if you like. I cant stress this enough there are no peeks at all & also the spectator does all the handling, it really is that simple. There is no question of memorizing the pages at all, the spec stops where they want! Hope this helps Cheers Mark |
Larry Davidson Inner circle Boynton Beach, FL 5270 Posts |
Not to be a KILLJOY, but this doesn't sound like a very good book test to me because of its indirectness. It sounds like a a puzzle, not a good magic effect.
For example, if you could really read a person's mind while he/she was looking at the names of countries in a book, you'd ask him/her to just look at the name of a country and then you'd reveal it. You wouldn't ask the person to look at a number, add the digits, and then look at a country that lands at that number. The latter approach is indirect and Rube Goldberg-like in appearance, which makes the effect a puzzle. Here's another example. If you really could read someone's mind and wanted to figure out which word on the back of a book he/she was thinking of, you'd have him/her simply look at a word and then you'd reveal it. You wouldn't have him/her look at a word inside of the book and then remember an object on the back of the book that's associated with the first word. Again, that turns the effect into a puzzle. In my view, there are other book tests on the market that are much stronger as well as other mind reading-type effects that don't use books that are much stronger. Regards, Larry Davidson |
roman59 New user Ipswich, United Kingdom 53 Posts |
Larry
This is not a puzzle at all, its a fantastic little book test designed for walkaround/table hopping at a fraction of the cost of other book tests, personally carrying around a couple of hardbound books going from table to table to me seems a bit false. I don't think you are being a killjoy you are entitled to your own opinon but in my opinion the strength of this little book is that it can be examined & the performer does not touch the book at all. I am sure that if you saw the effect you would change your mind, bearing in mind when I first saw this it was demonstrated to around 30 well seasoned professional magicians & it fooled them badly. All I am saying is that for the situations that I perfom in it is a perfect set of routines, no reset & its ready to use to the next set of spectators,surely its not the book that matters it is the presentation? Gio - All the text in the b.i.p is in english & it would be difficult to duplicate the book if you bought one. Hope this helps Cheers All |
Gianni Special user WILMINGTON, DE 993 Posts |
None of the reviewers have touched on a very important question, a question that I believe is an underpinning of Larry Davidson's comments: what are the questions that are put to the spectators, i.e., what must they tell you in order for your to divine their thoughts? Even though you do not need a peek, presumably you need some information from the spectators. Now if you could do everything mentioned in the reviews without the spectators saying a word, then we've upped the ante.
Gianni |
p.b.jones Inner circle Milford Haven. Pembrokeshire wales U.K. 2642 Posts |
HI larry,
I think that the other thing to consider is that maybe the performers are not all mentalists but rather into mental magic they may not want to truly decieve the spectator into believing they can read minds.. from a mentalist view point I agree with you Larry but many are magicians Phillip |
Larry Davidson Inner circle Boynton Beach, FL 5270 Posts |
Quote:
On 2003-09-02 14:18, roman59 wrote: Roman 59, You're right, I haven't seen the effect and I might change my mind if I did, but my impression is based on the detailed description. Fooling magicians isn't my interest, fooling and entertaining laymen is. What's good for magicians isn't necessarily good for laymen and vice versa. For example, much of Ramsey's work was designed to specifically fool magicians as it used feints to simulate moves that magicians were familiar with when in fact other unknown moves were actually being performed. All of this just to say that magicians and laymen are different audiences in many ways. I agree with you that "...carrying around a couple of hardbound books going from table to table...seems a bit false." I personally would never do that, but I also wouldn't necessarily do ANY book test table to table. As I mentioned earlier, if you want to perform an effect where you appear to read someone's mind (which is, after all, the basic effect of a book test), you can accomplish that effect without the use of books. If for some reason you insist on doing a book test, and if you're talking about table hopping at restaurants, why not do a book test type of effect with the menu? Re. your statement, "...surely its not the book that matters it is the presentation?" I disagree. It's the "effect," and effect is influenced by method. Philip, I'm not a mentalist, I'm a magician (and perform only one mental-type effect professionally), but I strive for directness in everything I perform and that appears to be lacking in this product. Just my opinions. Best regards, Larry Davidson |
Peter Nardi Inner circle 2238 Posts |
Hi,
I do perform Mental effects and the B.I.P i carry with me almost all the time. This can be performed one on one or to four specs and no questions are asked, you are telling them what they are thinking of. The whole structure of the effect means the book does not look out of place in the performance. I really do think Scott Creasy has come up with a well thought out winner. Regards Peter |
roman59 New user Ipswich, United Kingdom 53 Posts |
My sentiments exactly Peter
Larry - I have performed this for lay people at private functions not restaurants, they select the number,word or symbols from the book, to say it frys them is an understatement,the performer knows exactly what has been chosen with no peeks due to the clever construction of the book. How much more direct do you want to be the spectator stops at any page in the book, a 3 digit number is chosen from that page, the book is closed the performer then proceeds to write on an ordinary blank notepad to then reveal the chosen number For me this liitle book is a real worker which can be used in most situations if the need arises. I am not suggesting that it will suit everyones performance styles/acts, but £19.99 is a small price to pay for a compact portable book test that gives very good reactions. Cheers all |
Larry Davidson Inner circle Boynton Beach, FL 5270 Posts |
Quote:
On 2003-09-03 06:21, roman59 wrote: The 3-digit number revelation does sound direct. The revelation of the country and the revelation of the word on the back of the book do not sound direct. I'm not sure what you were suggesting re. price, but that's pretty much irrelevant to me. I won't perform an effect just because it's inexpensive, and I also won't perform an effect just because it's expensive. I perform a number of card effects using nothing more than ordinary playing cards (inexpensive) and I perform a particular coin effect that cost me close to $6000 to develop (incredibly expensive). Price was irrelevant in both cases. If the effect gets a strong reaction for some, that's great. What's good for you and what's good for me isn't necessarily the same, though, and I avoid indirect effects. If I want to perform a mind-reading type of effect that's incredibly direct, OOSOOM ("Out of Sight Out or Mind") (inexpensive) and MOABT ("Mother of All Book Tests") (expensive), for example, would fit the bill, as would another effect that will be marketed in a few months. Regards, Larry D. P.S. - Pete Nardi, I consider your "Knock 'Em Dead" effect to be direct and strong. |
Mr_Nutkins New user 59 Posts |
Received mine this morning and it looks great at first glance!! I'm not a mentalism kind of guy but I could be willing to change, I like the fact it's small and sort of looks like a military style book. Will post more..
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cardguy Inner circle Queens, New York 1171 Posts |
Here's a question: Can you repeat the effect with different outcomes?
Frank G. a.k.a. Cardguy
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roman59 New user Ipswich, United Kingdom 53 Posts |
Yes 2 Of the routines included in the book you can.
Hope this answers your question Cheers Mark |
Ken Regular user Belfast 112 Posts |
Mentalism is all about presentation! The BIP can become almost invisible with the right kind of presentation. Two of the revelations are very direct in deed and the others do not seen out of place given the right context and subject matter of the book.
Ken |
westo Special user 585 Posts |
What an excellent discussion! I have this item and use it to great effect in any situation. The power of it is the fact that the spectator chooses as cleanly as is possible and at all times they can hold the book. The fact that it fools magicians does not really matter one way or another.It just simply blows your audience away. This is what really matters.
Great forum guys, keep up the good work. westo
Creator of 'The Famous Westo Peek'..'The Westo Dump' and the 'Westolope'
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